An Amazing Loaf Of Bread

This recipe is NOT one of mine – but I am totally bowled over by it. It is delicious, infinitely adaptable, has incredible keeping qualities (just consider any adaptations). It is so satisfying and a little slice can be wrapped in a napkin and tucked into a pocket to keep you going all day with put having to resort to poorly made, ill thought through snacks that claim much but are made without knowledge or consideration.

This couldn’t be easier ……

…..make it yourself……

….. you’ll save more than money …

….. reclaim yumminess one recipe at a time!

This is from ‘My New Roots’ By Sarah Britton. The book is full of great recipes that you’ll use every day 🙂

1 cup/140g sunflower seeds

1/2 cup 90g linseeds

1/2 cup 70g almonds

1 1/2 cups 150g gluten free oats

2 tbsp chia seeds

4 tbsp psyllium husks

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp coconut oil

Use a 500g or 1lb silicon loaf pan. If its not silicon then use a strip of parchment along the base to make removal easier later.

This can be made in the loaf tin/pan.

In a bowl (or the loaf pan)  mix the dry ingredients

Whisk the wet in a jug and then stir into the dry.

Allow to stand on the side for the minimum of 3 hours and up to 12.

Preheat the oven to Gas 4/ 180•C / 350•F

Bake for 20 minutes on the middle self (I had to bake mine for twice as long as I made additions and adaptations – so just bear that in mind)

Tip the half baked loaf onto a metal tray and put it back into the oven for another 40 minutes. Until the loaf starts to sound hollow when tapped.

It should totally be left to go cold before you slice it like the inventor says … But i couldn’t resist a warm slice with fresh sliced pear and a drizzle of tahini … I know, I’m so predictable!

The adaptation on this loaf was 1 tbsp vanilla powder (make this by grinding a vanilla pod in a coffee grinder) 3 tbsp date syrup 3 tbsp of fennel seeds, 3 tbsp blueberries. 3 tbsp cranberries, 3 tbsp mulberries, 3 tbsp dried sour cherries, 3 tbsp golden raisins and I used hazelnuts

The adaptation on this loaf was 1 tbsp sesame seeds 3 tbsp of caraway seeds, a cup of green olives, a cup of sun dried tomatoes 1 tbsp oregano.

 

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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Super Easy Tasty Bread

I don’t even try to make any sort of baked bread to sell commercially anymore as my kitchen is simply not set up for it. Sometimes I’m making raw foods, or chocolates and I don’t have the space.

 

That doesn’t mean I don’t like bread and I want to be able to eat it but the stuff in supermarkets and sold by most bakers will do horrible things to my stomach. So when I want some bread to eat invariably I end up making it.

I know it sounds like a massive faff – but I have been doing this for over 30 years now and once you have your head set that this is how it will be done then you kinda just do it. Admittedly, a freezer bigger than an icebox would be great – but even that isn’t essential.

Straight away I will direct you to my sourdough starter recipe on here https://scarletrosita.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/biga-starter-grape-sourdough-starter/

Once this is fully on its way I freeze it. I then take it out the day before I’m baking and get it going again by adding more flour and water and I keep it going until the baking has been completed and then back into the freezer it goes until next time. It doesn’t let me down.

If you don’t want to use a starter then use 7 g of dried yeast, in a jug with a little date syrup and  warm water to activate it.

The addition of khorasan flour and spelt flour as well as sesame, sunflower, pumpkin and hemp seeds in this bread makes an extremely tasty and nutritious loaf.

 

 

Makes 4 x 1lb loaves – which sounds like a lot – but I always use one and freeze the others asap so they still have that out of the oven freshness when I need to use them. I just don’t have time to go through this process that often.

7 oz of your sourdough starter or

7 g dried yeast (this comes in a little sachet or its a heaped teaspoonful)  in 200ml water water and 1 tsp date syrup or another natural sweetener

100g a bread flour that you like – but one with wheat

450g spelt wholemeal flour

450g khorasan flour

1.5 tbsp fine seasalt

200g sesame more for the tin

200g sunflower seeds

200g pumpkin seeds

 100g hemp seeds

50 ml olive, hemp or flax seed oil

another 700ml of warm water

I honestly don’t think this could be simpler.

Either add the 200ml of warm water to the 7g of yeast or the 7 oz of starter you want the yeast to ‘bloom’ – it goes nice and frothy and smells like something you’d like to eat.

Mix the starter to slacken it.

Put the flours into a capacious bowl (I do use a stand mixer now as I have other things to do).

Add the yeast/starter and the other 700 ml of water (500ml if you are hand mixing) and start by slowly mixing it and then either give it a full 20 minutes of kneading by hand and 5 minutes on the highest speed on your stand mixer.

Cover with a damp cloth or cling film and leave it in a warm spot to get going. It is entirely up to you how long you leave it. You could leave it for a couple of hours or you can leave it for 24 hours.

Now add the seasalt, oil and the seeds as it needs to be knocked back (a good kneading) for a couple of minutes.

If you are making the bread on a stand mixer the bread should be a soft- almost pourable dough – that is correct.

Grease and flour your bread tins.

Divide the dough equally between the tins.

Set your oven to Gas 8 230˚C 450˚F

Stand the tins in a warm place and cover with a damp t towel.

Give it 40 – 50 minutes and it should fill the tins or double in size. Allow it to double in size. If its cold in your house it will take longer.

Once its double put the t towel in for a wash and put the tins into the oven – 2 at the top, and 2 in the middle.

Allow them 30 minutes then swap the levels over.

Give it another 20 minutes and check that they are cooked.

Turn them out of the tin and give them 10 minutes before you cut them.

I bet they are good enough for you to happily eat them just plain!

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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Barely Baked Superfood Sweet Biscuit

I know it’s not a very inspiring title but I really didn’t know how to describe these chewy, sweet, satisfying ‘biscuits’. The combination of ingredients is perhaps not what a classic biscuit would have, nor is the method, but these are super quick, very easy to make, taste really lovely and you can feed them to just about everyone as they as so ‘allergen low’.

I used to love to cook with my daughters and their friends (much to other parents horror. We’d make everything from bread to cinder toffee – heyho they all lived). And even if you have tiny, barely walking toddlers I’d urge you to make these. The dough is entirely edible and a treat and you are getting some great stuff into your bubba’s body.

Another great one to make with small children (as long as they are not intolerant or allergic to sesame or gluten) is to mix equal quantities of tahini and malt extract (or honey if your child is coeliac). It makes an edible play dough rich in calcium and other nutrients you won’t find in shop bought confectionary.

I highly recommend investing in small bags of the superfoods – you only ever use a teaspoon at a time and so it lasts ages. But the good they do you is beyond the money you pay. If you don’t want to buy them or you don’t want to buy all of them, either substitute one for the other – add more of the one you have bought or leave them out completely. Perhaps add a teaspoon of a good vanilla extract instead.

So – give these a try and let me know what you think and how you get on 🙂 (and if you are confused or worried I’m happy to help if I can)

Dough Ingredients:

100g dried apricots, prunes or figs

100g organic sunflower seeds

40 g shelled hemp seeds

6 tsp xylitol or coconut palm sugar

1 tsp baobab powder

1 tsp suma powder

1 tsp camu-camu powder

1 tsp maca root powder

1/2 tsp kelp powder

1/2 tsp barley grass powder

1/2 tsp good quality sea salt (or else leave it out)

120ml filtered water

For rolling:

1 tbsp lucuma powder

Place all the dough ingredients, bar the water, into your food processor with the ‘S’ blade. Process until it is as fine as it will go – about 5 minutes.

At this point start to dribble in the water through the chute as the machine is running until the mix forms a pliable, firm-ish ball.

Tip it onto a clean work surface dusted with the lucuma. Roll the ball so its all covered with the Lucuma (or Maca Root Powder if you prefer – its absolutely my favourite – I stir it into warmed almond milk for a treat).

It’s at this point that you can leave the children to play with it, let them make shapes, figures, letters, numbers, eat it raw, roll it into snakes. Bake them as they make them.

Or roll it will a pin to 1/2 cm thick. Stamp out the shapes you like best and pop them onto a parchment lined tray.

If you have a dehydrator then you need to dry them at 38•C for about 6 hours. Or pop them onto your oven at the lowest setting and allow them to dry for 3 hours.

I made a Purple Caramel Jam to top them with

60g inca berries or golden sultanas

150g agave or maple syrup

2 tsp acai powder

1 tsp purple corn extract

1 tsp raw coconut oil

Just blast these in the food processor straight after the dough is made – no need to wash the bowl.

Stores in a jar for a good 6 weeks.

– but they are far more delicious with a smear of cashew nut butter of dark tahini (I love this stuff)

Enjoy

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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Seedy Quinoa & Millet Loaf

This delicious and delightful recipe is an adaptation from http://detoxkitchen.co.uk/bible  It is full of really good recipes, not all to my taste but they are well thought out and I can see from reading them that they will work.

I often have the experience of reading a recipe and I know it won’t work, it must be very frustrating for people that commit to making the recipe to find they have wasted time and ingredients. But take heart – if a recipe doesn’t work it may well be that it is the recipe NOT you. There is a certain, very famous, female cook (she licks her fingers a lot and in often in her dressing gown eating from the fridge late at night) … I’ll say no more.

Makes 2 x 1 lb (450g) loaves or one large one.

Set your oven to Gas 6, 200˚C 400˚F.

Line the loaf tins with baking parchment or those natty loaf tin liners. They’re great, bit more money but do a proper job and save loads of time.

30g Chia Seeds Soak these for 30 minutes in 100ml of fresh cold water.

175g quinoa

175g millet

Measure these two together in a jug, make a note of the volume. Tip them into a clean pan and cover with double the volume of fresh, cold water. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes – no longer (it’ll be too wet). Drain and run through with cold water until it is properly cold. Leave to drain for a few minutes.

Tip the quinoa, millet mix into a food processor with the soaked chia seeds and blast for a good 5 minutes at top speed whilst you …

squeeze the juice from a lime (or 1/2 a lemon)

Mix that with 70 ml of the nicest olive oil you can get hold of (or you could try hemp, rape even vegetable oil if that will get you making this)

In a mixing bowl mix the oil and juice mix, quinoa, millet and chia seeds. Then add

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

40g pumpkin seeds (you can chop these a little if you like, especially if you want to slice the bread when it is warm as the seeds can be a little firm to start with – but after a couple of hours the seeds will have softened nicely)

50g sunflower seeds

Give it all a really good whacking mix and divide between the tins.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 60 minutes (that’s plenty unless your oven is very slow).

Cool for 20 minutes before removing from the tin.

I suggest mashed avocado, more olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt.

This can then be wrapped in cling film and frozen or wrap in greaseproof paper and keep it on the side for a couple of days. I can’t believe it will last longer without being eaten.

 

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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Infinitely Adaptable Salad with a Smashing Hemp Seed and Ginger Dressing

I am rather chuffed with meself today. Husband No:1 (not sure if I’m keeping him, 23 years of marriage and he is still annoying 🙂 )came in and announced that he wants to follow the 5:2 diet (he has no need to lose weight at all – he is a damn near physically perfect specimen – but he wants to be healthier) and he is really keep for those 2 days to be fully raw, vegan days. I know for sure now that he has been enjoying those foods along with all the other delights I proffer.

I did promise on my FB page that I would share this recipe. It is, as I say, infinitely adaptable, I would always suggest you use seasonal fruit and veg and if you can get locally grown then do so. You know if you can’t grow stuff yourself you can pop along to the local allotments or communal veg gardens and either buy the excess that they are probably selling or else go along and introduce yourself, tell them you are wanting to eat more locally grown foods and that theirs looks gorgeous (a little flattery will go a long way) and offer to buy what they have over each week. Not only will you be getting some fantastic produce, but you’ll be getting inspired by what these old boys and girls can produce and you’ll probably make a couple more friends 🙂

In all honesty, the food may well not look as perfect as the stuff in the supermarkets – I take that as an excellent indication that the food has been grown with due respect to the flora and fauna of the veg garden – and I kinda like bees …. and wasps … and even spiders 🙂

Mix this up … use what is good right now
1 cup fresh beans (broad, french, runner- in the winter you can go for sprouted mung, kidney or chick peas)
3 ears of corn (just slice the kernels off the cob with a sharp knife (in the winter you can use 2 cups of frozen – it can be our secret)
1 sweet red pepper
2 cups of chopped tomatoes (I currently am loving the very fleshy italian varieties)
2 large carrots (I am currently loving the globe variety I have in my garden – so…. carroty!)
1 corgette/zucchini
1/2 a sweet white onion/shallot

Give it all a good scrubbing wash and then chop it all into small pieces (so a few pieces could pile onto a teaspoon)
And mix in a bowl.

Hemp Seed and Ginger Dressing
4 medium carrots
a 2cm hunk of ginger (peeled and sliced)
3 tbsp coconut palm sugar (or whatever you like to use as a sweetener – this adds such a nice warm base to go with the hemp seeds)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp himalayan salt (you can use sea salt – but I like the iron hit)
1/3 cup Hemp seed oil
1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds

Pop everything bar the hemp seeds into a good strong food processor/blender and let it go until everything is a nice soft sauce. If it needs a little more water to blend it then just add it in 1/4 cup at a time.

Now just taste it, adjust the seasoning (does it need a little more sugar, vinegar, salt? Or all of them?)

Tip into a bowl and stir in the hemp seeds (my absolute favourite seeds)

Now use it to dress the above salad or use it as a dip. I love it smeared onto raw veggie wraps with some naughty avocado and apple – yum

😀

Fig & Persimmons (Kaki/Sharon Fruit) with Most Excellent Greek ‘Yoghurt’.

Where to begin with the great stuff in this cheeky bowl of delights!

❤ Persimmons … Nevermind the antioxidant vitamin-C power, the vitamin-A, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zea-xanthin and cryptoxanthin helping slow aging and various disease processes. They contain health benefiting flavonoids (poly-phenolic anti-oxidants such as catechins and gallocatechins) and an anti-tumor compound, betulinic acid.

❤ Figs … Nevermind the potassium (helps to control blood pressure) it’s fiber-rich positive effect on weight management an in depth US study showed it had a positive impact on lowering Postmenopausal Breast Cancer … and then bam – its there helping prevent age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) too.

❤ Cashews … Nevermind that about 50% of the fat is heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, there’s Copper for antioxidant defenses, energy production, magnesium for healthy bones and … you carzy people…. Eating Nuts Lowers Risk of Weight Gain!

❤ Coconut & Coconut Oil …. Nevermind it’s unique combination ofpowerfully medicinal fatty acids (its them there medium chain triglycerides), it increase your metabolism, helping you burn more fat. It’s lauric acid content can kill bacteria, viruses and fungi, it keeps you feeling full. We are all mad on raspberry ketones but the fatty acids in coconut oil do the same.

Enough … I’m exhausted with all the excitement.

Actually I have a beautiful fig tree in my garden and it is in it’s first flush so I am very excited to be able to pop out my back door, grab 3 figs from thetree and pop them into a bowl with a persimmon.

The Most Excellent Greek ‘Yoghurt’ is actually a cashew and coconut blend.
Soak a cup of cashews for a minimum of 20 minutes. Drain and rinse, then pop them into a food processor with a cup of coconut milk, the juice of a lemon, 1 tablespoon of xylotol (or raw honey or have you tried the lovely coconut blossom nectar?) a pinch of himalayn salt and blitz it, add a quarter cup of coconut oil, 1 tablespoon of sunflower lecithin and pour into a glass jar and chill for about 2 hours for a nice firm mix or you can enjoy it runny too

😀

 

Come and see me on Saturdays’ at Bermondsey Square Farmers Market in Southwark. It’s just off Tower Bridge Road, a short walk from The White Cube, Southbank and Borough Market.

email me scarletrositafood@gmail.com

phone or text 0792 310 9170

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5 Day Detox – realistic for normal human beings :)

Hello there m’dears. Been a while, I hope you are all doing well.

This is a bit of a special one as an aid to anyone that really wants a detox and has tried the commercial diets and extreme fasting detox’s and it’s all just been too much one way or another.

This will give your body enough of a break to get you feeling like everything is working well again and you can stride into the rest of the season feeling fighting fit.

Just so you know, myself, I had a small cup (125ml) of the alkalising green and some of my medicine balls this morning and I am pinging off the wall! So I am hoping that these recipes will do the same for you 🙂

So, to start here are four juices to have ready for the next 3 days, I will add into the recipes the various organic powders that I add when I make them, but you may not have them …. no matter, just make them without, they’ll still be really good for you 🙂
Each recipe is enough for the 3 days, you can cut the recipe into 1/3 and make them fresh each day, or make the batches, divide between cups for each day and freeze . Then the night before you need them take them out into the fridge and allow them to defrost ready for you to consume the next day. However you think about it, this is still a much better option than the pasteurised juices in the shops or the ‘fresh’ juices made from EU allowable blended stocks that allow them to still be called fresh.

Alkalising Green Restores balance to an acidic system.

1 cucumber
1 lime (well scrubbed with 2/3 of the zest removed)
a pinch of himalayan or sea salt
4 stalks of celery
a large handful of fresh parsley
3 eating apples
1/2 cup shelled hemp seeds
1 tbsp organic barley grass powder
1 tsp organic wheat grass powder
1 tbsp organic spirulina powder
1 tsp organic kelp powder
1 tbsp organic maca root powder
1 tbsp organic lucuma powder
1 x 2cm piece of fresh ginger

Juice the fruit and vegetables. Grind the hemp seeds. Put 1/2 the juice and the powders, seeds and ginger into a blender and blend for 3 minutes. Push through a fine sieve collecting all the pulp from the underside.
This can be diluted with equal quantities of fresh, filtered water.

Radical Reducing Blood Builder

Nice sweet taste disguises this iron rich, infection fighting juice, high in betacarotene and the natural fungicide falcarinol. Great if you have skin problems 🙂
4 good local seasonal apples (what is close and fresh to you)- (scrubbed)
1 medium sized beetroot (scrubbed)
2 medium carrots (scrubbed)
2 small parsnips (scrubbed)
1 lemon (well scrubbed with 1/2 the zest removed)
1 tbsp organic lucuma powder (or 1 tsp local honey if you like)

Again juice the fruit and veg then blend with the powder.
This can be diluted with equal quantities of fresh, filtered water.

Fluid Balancer Great for that afternoon energy hit you need. This is rich in a diverse combination of nutrients, will help with fluid retention as it sorts out the imbalance between cells. And then the lemon scarifies the gut to make sure you feel all fresh and new 🙂
3 eating apples (seasonal and local)
2 sticks celery (scrubbed)
1 cucumber (scrubbed)
1x 2 cm piece of ginger
1 lemon (well scrubbed with 1/2 the zest removed)
1 tsp purple corn extract
Same process as before.

Soothing Cinnamon

Nice for the end of the day, settling the stomach and preparing the body for rest (I do hope you aren’t trying to lead a crazy life over these 3 days – be nice to yourself!) The bromalain in the pineapple will does great things in removing mucus from the body (great if you have a cough or cold) and the cinnamon does good things to blood sugar levels and helps the body readjust back to a healthy mode 🙂

1 medium sized pineapple
2 good local seasonal apples (what is close and fresh to you)- (scrubbed)
1/4 medium sized beetroot (scrubbed)
1 medium carrots (scrubbed)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp organic mucuma powder

Peel the pineapple.
Same process as before.

I will also mention something called ‘Medicine Balls’ these are my own recipe and if you are a regular purchaser of mine you may well have had them. You do see similar items in wholefood shops and some supermarkets and there is a wealth of recipes elsewhere on WordPress, they are called things like energyballs, or powerballs. Mine have no added sugar and the others I have mentioned rely very heavily on dates in the ingredients. I love dates, use them lots, but they are very high in naturally occurring sugar and my personal experience is that they cause a massive sugar high and crash – so mine do not contain any. But if you want to use them do. Otherwise at the point where I suggest eating a Medicine ball, you can perhaps have a herbal tea, or even a raw carrot 🙂

Day 1
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added (I cannot tolerate this so I have …) or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before 11.am.
2nd Juice: Radical Reducing, Blood Builder. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take after Midday.
3rd Juice: Fluid Balancer. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 3.pm. and 4.pm.
4th Juice: Soothing Cinnamon. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 6.pm and 8.pm.

2 hours before bedtime (this may well coincide with your final juice of the day) Gojiberry Ginger & Bee Pollen Medicine Ball

Day 2
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before 11.am.
2nd Juice: Radical Reducing, Blood Builder. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take after Midday.
3rd Juice: Fluid Balancer. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 3.pm. and 4.pm.
4th Juice: Soothing Cinnamon. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 6.pm and 8.pm.

2 hours before bedtime (this may well coincide with your final juice of the day) Super Seeds & Super Berry Medicine Ball

Day 3
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before 11.am.
2nd Juice: Radical Reducing, Blood Builder. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take after Midday.
3rd Juice: Fluid Balancer. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 3.pm. and 4.pm.
4th Juice: Soothing Cinnamon. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take between 6.pm and 8.pm.

2 hours before bedtime (this may well coincide with your final juice of the day) Hemp & Purple Corn Extract Medicine Ball

Day 4
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before eating anything. This is just a really great juice to get into the habit of having every morning – or perhaps just on a weekend morning – just start making it something you would want to include in your weekly food intake – in the same way as lots of people think about toast (I do not eat bread everyday and mostly I don’t even eat it once a week but I understand that people eat bread every single day of the year).

Green Medicine Ball: Now allow 20 minutes before you eat any breakfast.

Breakfast: Gluten Free Oats, soaked in warm water overnight. Add a little honey or agave nectar, a heaping tablespoon of sunflower and pumpkin seeds and as much soya, almond milk, coconut milk, goats milk, ewes milk or
any live yogurt you prefer.

Lunch: RAW! Kale & Sauerkraut Salad (from me)

or Nicoise Salad, made with a big handful of spinach leaves, a ripe tomato, a cold hard boiled egg, 2 anchovy fillets, a small can of tuna (drained), or a fresh one (seared for 2 minutes either side). Mix as a salad with a few olives if you like.

Dinner: 3 Bean and White Chard.

You can make this as a stew or as a soup. Very tasty, extremely good for your entire system. Small can of kidney beans, 1 small can of chick peas, 1 small can of flagolet beans. 1 red onion, 1 small carrot, 1 stalk of celery, 1 clove of garlic, a can of tomatoes, 8 leaves of white chard, a good tablespoon of rapeseed oil. Warm the oil and fry the vegetables (not the chard). Add in the other ingredients and 500ml of vegetable stock. Cook for 10 minutes. Really quick and good for you too 🙂 Make enough for tomorrows lunch.

Day 5
On rising warm water with a slice of fresh lemon added or a warm water and a few leaves of fresh mint.
1st Juice: Alkalising Green. You may dilute the made quantity with an equal measure of fresh/filtered water. Take before eating anything.

Breakfast: A ripe tomato, a slice of red onion. Fry in a tbsp of olive oil, add a handful of chopped parsley leaves and then stir in 2 large free range eggs to scramble.

Lunch: 3 Bean and White Chard. From last nights dinner 🙂

Dinner: 3 Chick Pea & Sweet Potato Bake. 2 large sweet potatoes (well scrubbed), boiled then mashed. Set the oven to 200˚C or Gas4. Heat a spoon of olive oil and add a diced onion in to soften, then add a clove of garlic, stir, 4 big handfuls of spinach and stir over the heat until they wilt. Add in a large can of chick peas and crush all together slightly. Pop into a oven dish. Top with the mash and bake for 20 minutes.

You are now good to go for the rest of the year 🙂

Come see me on Bermondsey Market in London on a Saturday.

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

This is a big cake – remember I was using all that pumpkin! So I have given measures that will make 2 x 2lb loaves or the one big cake. If you want you can just halve the amounts and make the one loaf. But these freeze like a dream!

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

Ingredients
• 600g / 20 oz GF SR flour
• 420g / 14 oz brown sugar
• 1 salt
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 600g / 20 oz roasted pumpkin puréed in a food processor
• 250 ml sunflower oil
• 9 tbsp Agave Nectar

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F/180˚C/Gas4.
Parchment line a 24 cm spring form cake tin. Or 2 x 2lb loaf tins.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, salt, and spices.
In a jug whisk together the oil and agave.
Add wet mixture to dry with the pureed pumpkin then mix until well combined. This is a stiff batter, don’t worry, the pumpkin will make it a really soft cake 🙂

Pour into prepared pan and level it off.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until top is starting to brown and it feels firm to the touch. For the loaves allow 35-40 minutes 🙂
Let it to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then open the pan or tip them out and allow to cool on a rack.

Autumnal Pumpkin Stew

So here is the first dish I made with the pumpkin 🙂

It was eaten that night (as were all the dishes) and we felt we had seriously entered into an autumn state of being 🙂

I was aiming to make enough for 4 people, but I just made extra and popped the other half into the freezer. This is giving a good idea of how much food there is to be had from just one pumpkin.

Autumnal Pumpkin Stew

serves 8 people

1 kg / 2 lb roasted pumpkin flesh
3 medium onions
5 medium carrots
3 sticks of celery
3 cloves of garlic
120g / 4oz creamed coconut
2 tbsp sunflower oil
4 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
(or 4 tsp Garam masala if you prefer a more curry flavour)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp brown sugar (optional)
1.5 lt / 3 pt hot vegetable stock or water

(Not the garlic!) Peel the raw vegetables and cut them all into a 1 cm chunk – not too small, this isn’t a soup 🙂

Chop the cooked pumpkin flesh to be about 2 cm chunks.

Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan.
Add the raw vegetables, keep the heat as high as possible and allow the vegetables to start to brown.
Turn the heat to low and add the pumpkin, spices, herbs, sugar and tomato puree.
Give it a stir, allow that it 10 – 20 seconds to open the flavours.
Turn up the heat and either chop or use a garlic press to process the garlic to a fine mince and add to the pan.
Add the hot stock. The liquid should not quite cover top layer.
Now add the coconut and to bring this to the boil.
Turn the heat down to medium low, cover with a lid and allow to cook for 10 -15 minutes.
If it looks too soupy after this then take the lid off and allow it to boil on a high heat for 5 minutes to drive off some of the liquid (you will also intensify the flavour).
Keep a check on it, give it a stir every so often to make sure it’s not catching on the bottom.
That’s it, it’s ready – but, as with so many tomato based foods – this is so much tastier if you allow it to cool and have it thoroughly warmed through the next day.

I served these with the Savoury Pumpkin Cakes 🙂

Pumpkins’ Are Enormous – And What To Do With Them

As you know, I do like a seasonal bit of produce and there are lots of enormous pumpkins around and most are bought (here in Blighty) just to make lanterns.

I have had an intrigue and fascination of pumpkins for way too long (considering I am an adult) and it is all down to Linus and his obsession with the Pumpkin Patch in Peanuts (I want to be Snoopy). But I am not exactly successful at growing them myself, however they are plentiful and cheap at the moment.

So I bought some and thought I’d make a sensible attempt at seeing what I could make to feed a family of 4 from one pumpkin.

There was more pumpkin than I could cook dishes with in the time I had but I did get 3 good ones 🙂

Preparing the Pumpkin 🙂

I wanted to cook it in a way that would get rid of some of the moisture and intensify the flavour, so I knew I would roast it.

Cut the pumpkin in quarters and take out the seeds.

Wash away the membranes and any sticky juice and allow them to dry on a tray. The seeds can be roasted with soy sauce or spices to make a tasty topping or snacking food.

I did cut away the skin, but I know some people like to leave the skin on as they roast. I can’t see any benefit to leaving it on unless you want to scrap the skins of all flesh once it has finished cooking.

As you can see, I got a lot of flesh from the one pumpkin. Put it in a single layer on the tray and roast at 425˚F/220˚C/Gas7 for about 20 minutes – until the flesh is tender.

Allow it to cool – ready for what ever it is you want to cook.

And here are the recipes 😀

Autumnal Pumpkin Stew

Pumpkin Savoury Cakes

Spiced Pumpkin Cake